chiltern trev
Member
We went to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and attended all the rugby 7s sessions at Ibrox and used the Braehead Park & Ride both days which was a good choice and worked well.
So here is a report on our shuttle bus experiences. It is a bit on the long side as it includes background to the setting. There are also links to some flickr photos so hopefully there are no copyright infringements no doubt some will say if there are and I will edit the post accordingly.
Rugby 7s at Ibrox sessions:
- Saturday 26th July 2014, 10.00-15.30 and 18.00-22.30
- Sunday 27th July 2014, 10.30-14.15 and 17.15-22.30
There is a Glasgow subway station at Ibrox, about 100 yards from the NE corner of the stadium site.
There is no rail station serving Ibrox. It is a shame that various officials decided not to re-open the old Ibrox station - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrox_railway_station.
Shuttle buses were in operation between Buchanan St bus station and the temporary Ibrox bus station before and after all sessions which were predominately operated by red buses:
- ex London Go-Ahead from Gateshead & Newcastle, still painted red and mostly of the old low floor centre staircase short wheelbase models, mainly Plaxton bodied. I think a good number of these migrated from London to Newcastle initially for the Tyne and Wear Metro rebuilding requiring lots of replacement buses about 1-2 years ago.
- ex London Stagecoach ALX Trident, mostly long wheelbase, mainly 04 reg, but a reasonable number of short wheel bases, painted red. These appeared to be straight out of service in London. I did read elsewhere that at least 20 went via the Grand Prix Park and Ride at Silverstone. So will these be going back in service in London or have they been displaced by Borismasters (NB4L) or newer buses?
- All these ex-London double deckers had Shuttle Bus in large yellow letters on a black background stuck over the front destination display I presume because London buses have the old fashioned roller blinds so this was the simplest and quickest way of putting up a reasonably professional looking standardised display.
I saw 2 of the Stagecoach ALX Tridents from Morecambe depot and these also had the yellow Shuttle Bus on black background destination display.
According to https://www.flickr.com/photos/46341292@N05/14583393426, at least 79 London Tridents made it up to Glasgow.
Park & Ride was in operation - http://www.glasgow2014.com/your-games/travel-and-transport/park-ride. We were travelling up by car from Carlisle using the M74. The Park and Ride sites are listed below from NW clockwise to SW, with my reason for using Braehead and reasons for not using the other sites I have included this information should it be useful for those of you who have to select Park and Ride sites.
- Blochairn central and east, north of river Clyde, M8 J14 - http://www.glasgow2014.com/sites/default/files/documents/P&R Blochairn.pdf not selected as a bit of an industrial waste zone for which my passengers would have said where have you taken us
- Baldinnie Road west, north of river Clyde, M8 J10 - http://www.glasgow2014.com/sites/default/files/documents/P&R Baldinnie_0.pdf not many facilities at the site
- Eurocentral further west, north of river Clyde, A8 (or where the missing bit of the M8 is) - http://www.glasgow2014.com/sites/default/files/documents/P&R Eurocentral.pdf - not many facilities at the site - long travel time to venue
- Hamilton International Park west and south of river Clyde - http://www.glasgow2014.com/sites/default/files/documents/P&R Hamilton.pdf looked out of the way and not next to a motorway - lack of facilities long travel time to venue
- Freescale - west and south of river Clyde http://www.glasgow2014.com/sites/default/files/documents/P&R Freescale.pdf - out of the way and no easy access to a motorway log travel time to venue
- Silverburn http://www.glasgow2014.com/sites/default/files/documents/P&R Silverburn_0.pdf - at the shopping centre so lots of facilities (supermarket for food to take away, cafes/restaurants for sit down eating, decent toilets (not portaloos), petrol station and generally a good environment) shortest travel time to the venue but travel route to the venue the bus was less clear than Braehead
- Braehead - http://www.glasgow2014.com/sites/default/files/documents/P&R Braehead_0.pdf - at the shopping centre so lots of facilities (supermarket for food to take away, cafes/restaurants for sit down eating, decent toilets (not portaloos), petrol station and generally a good environment) second shortest travel time to the venue but travel route to the venue the bus looked easier and we have been and used this shopping centre before. Good job the M74 extension opened a few years ago and provided an easy transit from the very east of the Glasgow motorway system though the centre on the south bank and out to the west side passing Ibrox stadium on the way.
The Park and Ride was only available via pre-booking. I booked as soon as receiving the email advising Park and Ride was now bookable and thus had a pick of all the slots for Braehead these were from about 06.30 to 09.15 at 15 minute intervals. I chose the latest time available which was 09.15. At the time of booking, I do not recall being able to find the detailed location pdfs, as per above, just a Google pinpoint on the map. So at the time of booking the exact location and access routes was information was not available. The Braehead complex covers a large site and I was pleased to find the multi-storey car park had been taken over and it was right next to the bus station, the shops and near to the Sainsburys. For example, it could have been over 0.5 mile away west down the site beyond the indoor ski slope. Now the 06.30 time slot shows one inevitable problem with Park and Ride who wants to arrive at the session venue, Ibrox at 07.00 when the gates are not open? I booked the Park and Ride as it was available, at a good time, and a fall back if I did not find another parking or transport option it later transpired that Braehead was a very good choice. One of my other considerations was the Shields Road subway Park and Ride but 50% was taken over by accessible parking and the queues at Ibrox for the subway were horrendous.
The Park and Rides were mainly operated by Stagecoach normally livery ADL E400m with a small number of Scania E400. All the E400s in use had the LED displays correctly programmed to show the correct service and destination, e.g. Park and Ride to Ibrox, Park and Ride Back to Braehead, Shuttle Bus to Buchanan St and Shuttle Bus to Ibrox. I saw:
- Stagecoach normal livery E400 from East Kent, Hull, Inverness, Manchester, Newcastle
- University Bus livery (Unibus) E400 from Stagecoach Leamington Spa
- Stagecoach livery brand new Scania E400s with no logos or fleet numbers. I have since found out from flickr photos that the new Scania E400s in use are believed to be destined for Stagecoach West, Cheltenham and Gloucester.
Buses appeared to be generally allocated to one route but of course there were changes as and when required.
Saturday am. Arrived at the Braehead Park and Ride (at Braehead shopping centre) on time at 09.15. The multi-storey car park was being used for the Park and Ride. We walked past the bus station to a service access area to the shuttle bus queue which was about 100 persons long. One East Kent GN reg E400 (Scania?) was loading and went on its way. We boarded the next bus which was an East Kent ADL E400 MX or SN reg and off we went. So far so good, about 10-15minutes from parking the car and our bus departing which is what you would expect. So Stagecoach East Kent buses appeared to be the main allocation to Braehead Park and Ride.
The route was straight onto the M8 J25A Braehead slip road, along the M8 and off in about 5 minutes (3 or 4 miles) at M8 J24/Helen St/A761/A8/Ibrox/ASDA.
Here we encountered a pinch point which existed to varying degrees before and after sessions the multiple traffic lights at the M8 J24 slip roads and the adjacent (50 yards away) access to the ADSA store (with McDonalds near the front of the car park. All the P&R and Buchanan St shuttle buses were using passing through this junction.
The route was then north along Helen St to Golspie St, turn right (east) past Govan Subway station, turn right (south) onto Broomloan Road, past the Broomloan subway depot (empty of trains), then left (east) onto Summertown Rd and right (north) onto Briton St. So we must have travelled, time wise, just along on a tour of Ibrox and Govan industrial areas as on the M8.
Briton St was the entrance road to the Ibrox bus station based on Brighton St.
This is a demolished and cleared area of several roads and was grassed over providing plenty of space for passengers. The footpaths were not being used as temporary aluminium walkways and barriers were in place across the grassed areas to direct passengers according the same aluminium walkways and barriers as we found at Eton for the 2012 Paralympics.
The roads leading to the Ibrox bus station and Ibrox bus station were not congested as buses were unloading and departing empty to their next location straight away. As this was the first heavy use of the Ibrox bus station there was the occasional blockage due to buses trying to pass at junctions (conflicting moves) which was quickly resolved as later in the day some signage and a supervisor or two appeared at key junctions within the bus station area to enforce more of a one way flow and reducing conflicting movements.
Here is a wide photo view of the Ibrox bus station - https://www.flickr.com/photos/retroscania/14752857732
From here we were directed to Ibrox stadium.
We watched the first session and having tickets for the second session did not use the shuttle bus between sessions.
At the end of Saturday, we stayed to the very end of the session. On leaving we exited past the subway station and followed the directions back to the Ibrox bus station.
On the approach to the bus station there was segregation between Park and Ride passengers and Buchanan St shuttle bus passengers, so we followed the appropriate signs and entered to the correct bus stop queue. So well done for all the signage and segregation between subway, Buchanan St and Park and Ride passengers.
The Park and Ride buses departed from Kintra St and Iona St. There was a separate bus stop for each Park and Ride destination. Each bus stop had space for at least 2 buses and in some instances 3 buses. This allowed the bus stop queue person to load 2 or 3 buses at once well done for fast moving the queue. Each driver counted the passengers on and stopped short of the capacity and the bus stop queue person went to the back of the upper deck, did an empty seat count and the empty seats were filled. No standing passengers permitted.
Our queue had about 100 passengers in it when we joined the queue. Other Park and Ride queues varied between 0 and 250. There were 2 Stagecoach normal painted E400 buses loading which left full and then we had a wait. There were various spare buses parked on the opposite side of the roads for all the Park and Ride bus stops. There was a delay in buses arriving caused by a build up of Buchanan St shuttle buses in the bus station entrance waiting for a place at their bus stop or bus queuing area thus being stopped and preventing any Park and Ride buses further back in the entrance queue from making forward progress. At this time there were 4 Buchanan St shuttle buses loading at their bus stop with at least 12 waiting for these 4 to fill and leave. In less than 5 minutes a red 04 reg ALX Trident (from Leytonstone - depot code T)) was brought over from the opposite side of the road and put into use as an extra for Braehead to help move the queue. 10 minutes after joining the queue, our bus was on its way.
As our bus made its way round the bus station there was movement in the Buchanan St shuttle buses and buses stuck in the entrance were able to move. On our return towards the M8, return there was a continuous queue of inbound buses along Summertown Rd and Broomloan Rd almost back to Govan subway station say about 40 buses. And then to Braehead without undue delay.
The Buchanan St shuttle buses loaded in Clynder St. On the Sunday I saw 10 or may be 12 parked along Clynder St all loading at the same time. This shuttle bus queue had a main queue spine down the centre of the grassed area with 10 or 12 separate lead offs directly to each bus front door with the buses being nose to tail. Briton St, within the bus station was used a holding area for the next group of 10 or 12 Buchanan St shuttle buses so as soon as those at the bus stop departed en masse, the next group were able to move forward en masse.
Sunday am. We arrived early (08.30) at Braehead shopping centre, had breakfast in the Sainsburys café, filled the car up with petrol, then parked the car at the allotted time of 09.15 and walked over to the Park and Ride queue. So you see what I mean about facilities oh and decent toilets inside the Sainsburys. However, today a much longer queue, about 300-400 persons. One shuttle bus left. A couple of minutes later a second shuttle bus appeared, loaded and went on its way. We did move forward in the queue but still about 200-300 persons in the queue. Then no buses for at least 20 minutes. Then 3 First buses appeared and arrived the in the SPT bus station and parked in 3 bays alongside the Park and Ride queue it turned out these were extra buses and obviously the drivers had not been to this Park and Ride bus stop before and so just went into the bus station and parked near the long queue. Then within 2 minutes 2 Stagecoach E400s correctly approached the Park and Ride bus stops.
The queue controller started loading one of the Stagecoach E400 but not the second one right behind it or the 3 First buses in the SPT bus station. So after a discussion with him, he rearranged the barriers at the Park and Ride bus stop and started loading the second Stagecoach E400 but could not load the 3 First buses as they were in the SPT bus station and shuttle buses were not allowed to use the SPT bus station bays as the bays were reserved for service buses. Now I can understand this on Monday to Saturday with many service buses coming and going and it could cause problems, but this was Sunday morning, very few services buses and a long queue of passengers who had been waiting longer than expected. Now these Games are in Glasgow and SPT is Glasgow so I really do not think SPT would look good, from a customer service viewpoint, if that line was continually pursued. However, now that 2 buses were loading at once, very soon 3 buses were filled, we got on the 4th bus (a Stagecoach ADL E400 in Unibus livery from Leamington Spa) and we were on our way. One of the First buses that had been loaded at the Park and Ride bus stop did park nearby for a few minutes fully loaded and then followed a Stagecoach E400 out so clearly the First driver was less familiar with the location and waited for a bus to follow.
The trip to Ibrox was fine with no delays. Then through security which took much longer. We arrived at our set nearly 1 hour later for the same Park and Ride time slot. At the end of the first session, it was announced that there were lots of delays and problems with shuttle buses and people might wish to use the subway back to central Glasgow.
From the BBC:
- Glasgow 2014: Games organisers promise more buses after venue delays - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-28513536
- Glasgow 2014: Refunds after Games travel problems - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-28542350
So what happened? My theory. The shuttle buses worked ok for 2 x 45,000 spectator sessions at Ibrox on Saturday s that should have been ok for Sunday. But on Sunday there was also a Park and Ride and Buchanan St shuttle buses for a 51,000+ spectator session at Hampden Park where the start was in the middle of the first Ibrox session and the end was in the middle of the second Ibrox session. So in theory it would appear all the shuttle buses could do the extra session but probably all the contingency and recovery capability was lost. And then add in the probably the killer move a marathon that start at 09.00 in the city, goes all round the city, out south west to Ibrox M8 J23 (but not crucially M8 J24 which is 600 yards further out on the M8) then a loop round the south central area passing west of Hampden Park. So the route goes near to the Buchanan St bus station and the two venues being served by shuttles passes. Add in 350,000+ spectators along the route and the consequential knock-on effects.
See here for the route - http://www.glasgow2014.com/sites/default/files/documents/Marathon Map - 6Feb14 v3.pdf
We stayed at Ibrox between the sessions thus not using the shuttle buses.
The Gold, Silver and Bronze matches were scheduled at the very end of the 2nd session, so it was still a very much full house, say 95% full, at the end of the last match, South Africa beating New Zealand to take Gold. We left immediately not waiting for the medal ceremony and so did lots of other spectator so the street heading towards the subway and shuttle buses were full of spectators.
Thus we arrived in the Ibrox bus station at our Park and Ride bus stop quite soon and there were about 100 in the queue already and one bus loading. When it was nearly full a second bus appeared but did not load until the first had departed (about a 30 second) wait and as soon as it started loading a further 2 buses arrived and parked nose to tail so the bus queue person loaded all 3 buses at once. We boarded the first bus which was a brand new Scania E400 with no fleet number and no Stagecoach logo, When our bus left the other 2 buses were still loading and there were at least 200 people in the queue. The bus exited the bus station reasonably quickly as the teething conflicting bus movements had been resolved. There was a huge queue from the Buchanan Street shuttle bus stop stretching 10-15 persons wide all the way back. But I lost count of how many buses were nose to tail loading, probably 10-12 (as earlier) and around 6 already queue waiting for the bus stop to be freed. As the bus travelled along Summertown Road and the Broomloan Rd we passed about 15 in-bound buses, 2-4 Braehead Park and Ride, about 4-6 other Park and Ride and about 6 Buchanan St shuttle buses nowhere near as many as Saturday night. Whilst turning left at Govan subway station, there was a long line of buses looking east on Govan Rd which must have been used as a parking lot.
Other buses seen at Ibrox - Reading buses
On the Saturday during a break between the sessions, we took a walk round the south side of Ibrox stadium and then to the nearby ASDA and McDonalds. Along the way there were accessible shuttles at Ibrox accessible bus stop on Shieldhall Rd/Edmiston Drive:
- First livery brand new Streetlites
- 62 reg or newer single deckers, Wright bodied(?)
The single deckers on the accessible shuttle to Partick did not appear to have the seating altered to provide more wheelchair space but I could have been wrong.
And there was a bus parking lot on the south side on what was normally a car park for Ibrox stadium. A few First E400s were parked here. Probably space for 60-100 buses.
Other buses seen on the M74:
- First Wright bodied double deckers
- First E400 double deckers
- Ulsterbus Wright bodied double deckers
Video of buses parked up for Glasgow Commonwealth Games at Hampden Park
- Video: how many buses does it take to get Games fans home from Hampden? - http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/commo...o-get-games-fans-home-from-hampden.1406622022. All parked up on Aitkenhead Rd near Hampden Park.
And also https://www.flickr.com/photos/retroscania/14605836499
Flickr lots of photos on flickr.
So here is a report on our shuttle bus experiences. It is a bit on the long side as it includes background to the setting. There are also links to some flickr photos so hopefully there are no copyright infringements no doubt some will say if there are and I will edit the post accordingly.
Rugby 7s at Ibrox sessions:
- Saturday 26th July 2014, 10.00-15.30 and 18.00-22.30
- Sunday 27th July 2014, 10.30-14.15 and 17.15-22.30
There is a Glasgow subway station at Ibrox, about 100 yards from the NE corner of the stadium site.
There is no rail station serving Ibrox. It is a shame that various officials decided not to re-open the old Ibrox station - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrox_railway_station.
Shuttle buses were in operation between Buchanan St bus station and the temporary Ibrox bus station before and after all sessions which were predominately operated by red buses:
- ex London Go-Ahead from Gateshead & Newcastle, still painted red and mostly of the old low floor centre staircase short wheelbase models, mainly Plaxton bodied. I think a good number of these migrated from London to Newcastle initially for the Tyne and Wear Metro rebuilding requiring lots of replacement buses about 1-2 years ago.
- ex London Stagecoach ALX Trident, mostly long wheelbase, mainly 04 reg, but a reasonable number of short wheel bases, painted red. These appeared to be straight out of service in London. I did read elsewhere that at least 20 went via the Grand Prix Park and Ride at Silverstone. So will these be going back in service in London or have they been displaced by Borismasters (NB4L) or newer buses?
- All these ex-London double deckers had Shuttle Bus in large yellow letters on a black background stuck over the front destination display I presume because London buses have the old fashioned roller blinds so this was the simplest and quickest way of putting up a reasonably professional looking standardised display.
I saw 2 of the Stagecoach ALX Tridents from Morecambe depot and these also had the yellow Shuttle Bus on black background destination display.
According to https://www.flickr.com/photos/46341292@N05/14583393426, at least 79 London Tridents made it up to Glasgow.
Park & Ride was in operation - http://www.glasgow2014.com/your-games/travel-and-transport/park-ride. We were travelling up by car from Carlisle using the M74. The Park and Ride sites are listed below from NW clockwise to SW, with my reason for using Braehead and reasons for not using the other sites I have included this information should it be useful for those of you who have to select Park and Ride sites.
- Blochairn central and east, north of river Clyde, M8 J14 - http://www.glasgow2014.com/sites/default/files/documents/P&R Blochairn.pdf not selected as a bit of an industrial waste zone for which my passengers would have said where have you taken us
- Baldinnie Road west, north of river Clyde, M8 J10 - http://www.glasgow2014.com/sites/default/files/documents/P&R Baldinnie_0.pdf not many facilities at the site
- Eurocentral further west, north of river Clyde, A8 (or where the missing bit of the M8 is) - http://www.glasgow2014.com/sites/default/files/documents/P&R Eurocentral.pdf - not many facilities at the site - long travel time to venue
- Hamilton International Park west and south of river Clyde - http://www.glasgow2014.com/sites/default/files/documents/P&R Hamilton.pdf looked out of the way and not next to a motorway - lack of facilities long travel time to venue
- Freescale - west and south of river Clyde http://www.glasgow2014.com/sites/default/files/documents/P&R Freescale.pdf - out of the way and no easy access to a motorway log travel time to venue
- Silverburn http://www.glasgow2014.com/sites/default/files/documents/P&R Silverburn_0.pdf - at the shopping centre so lots of facilities (supermarket for food to take away, cafes/restaurants for sit down eating, decent toilets (not portaloos), petrol station and generally a good environment) shortest travel time to the venue but travel route to the venue the bus was less clear than Braehead
- Braehead - http://www.glasgow2014.com/sites/default/files/documents/P&R Braehead_0.pdf - at the shopping centre so lots of facilities (supermarket for food to take away, cafes/restaurants for sit down eating, decent toilets (not portaloos), petrol station and generally a good environment) second shortest travel time to the venue but travel route to the venue the bus looked easier and we have been and used this shopping centre before. Good job the M74 extension opened a few years ago and provided an easy transit from the very east of the Glasgow motorway system though the centre on the south bank and out to the west side passing Ibrox stadium on the way.
The Park and Ride was only available via pre-booking. I booked as soon as receiving the email advising Park and Ride was now bookable and thus had a pick of all the slots for Braehead these were from about 06.30 to 09.15 at 15 minute intervals. I chose the latest time available which was 09.15. At the time of booking, I do not recall being able to find the detailed location pdfs, as per above, just a Google pinpoint on the map. So at the time of booking the exact location and access routes was information was not available. The Braehead complex covers a large site and I was pleased to find the multi-storey car park had been taken over and it was right next to the bus station, the shops and near to the Sainsburys. For example, it could have been over 0.5 mile away west down the site beyond the indoor ski slope. Now the 06.30 time slot shows one inevitable problem with Park and Ride who wants to arrive at the session venue, Ibrox at 07.00 when the gates are not open? I booked the Park and Ride as it was available, at a good time, and a fall back if I did not find another parking or transport option it later transpired that Braehead was a very good choice. One of my other considerations was the Shields Road subway Park and Ride but 50% was taken over by accessible parking and the queues at Ibrox for the subway were horrendous.
The Park and Rides were mainly operated by Stagecoach normally livery ADL E400m with a small number of Scania E400. All the E400s in use had the LED displays correctly programmed to show the correct service and destination, e.g. Park and Ride to Ibrox, Park and Ride Back to Braehead, Shuttle Bus to Buchanan St and Shuttle Bus to Ibrox. I saw:
- Stagecoach normal livery E400 from East Kent, Hull, Inverness, Manchester, Newcastle
- University Bus livery (Unibus) E400 from Stagecoach Leamington Spa
- Stagecoach livery brand new Scania E400s with no logos or fleet numbers. I have since found out from flickr photos that the new Scania E400s in use are believed to be destined for Stagecoach West, Cheltenham and Gloucester.
Buses appeared to be generally allocated to one route but of course there were changes as and when required.
Saturday am. Arrived at the Braehead Park and Ride (at Braehead shopping centre) on time at 09.15. The multi-storey car park was being used for the Park and Ride. We walked past the bus station to a service access area to the shuttle bus queue which was about 100 persons long. One East Kent GN reg E400 (Scania?) was loading and went on its way. We boarded the next bus which was an East Kent ADL E400 MX or SN reg and off we went. So far so good, about 10-15minutes from parking the car and our bus departing which is what you would expect. So Stagecoach East Kent buses appeared to be the main allocation to Braehead Park and Ride.
The route was straight onto the M8 J25A Braehead slip road, along the M8 and off in about 5 minutes (3 or 4 miles) at M8 J24/Helen St/A761/A8/Ibrox/ASDA.
Here we encountered a pinch point which existed to varying degrees before and after sessions the multiple traffic lights at the M8 J24 slip roads and the adjacent (50 yards away) access to the ADSA store (with McDonalds near the front of the car park. All the P&R and Buchanan St shuttle buses were using passing through this junction.
The route was then north along Helen St to Golspie St, turn right (east) past Govan Subway station, turn right (south) onto Broomloan Road, past the Broomloan subway depot (empty of trains), then left (east) onto Summertown Rd and right (north) onto Briton St. So we must have travelled, time wise, just along on a tour of Ibrox and Govan industrial areas as on the M8.
Briton St was the entrance road to the Ibrox bus station based on Brighton St.
This is a demolished and cleared area of several roads and was grassed over providing plenty of space for passengers. The footpaths were not being used as temporary aluminium walkways and barriers were in place across the grassed areas to direct passengers according the same aluminium walkways and barriers as we found at Eton for the 2012 Paralympics.
The roads leading to the Ibrox bus station and Ibrox bus station were not congested as buses were unloading and departing empty to their next location straight away. As this was the first heavy use of the Ibrox bus station there was the occasional blockage due to buses trying to pass at junctions (conflicting moves) which was quickly resolved as later in the day some signage and a supervisor or two appeared at key junctions within the bus station area to enforce more of a one way flow and reducing conflicting movements.
Here is a wide photo view of the Ibrox bus station - https://www.flickr.com/photos/retroscania/14752857732
From here we were directed to Ibrox stadium.
We watched the first session and having tickets for the second session did not use the shuttle bus between sessions.
At the end of Saturday, we stayed to the very end of the session. On leaving we exited past the subway station and followed the directions back to the Ibrox bus station.
On the approach to the bus station there was segregation between Park and Ride passengers and Buchanan St shuttle bus passengers, so we followed the appropriate signs and entered to the correct bus stop queue. So well done for all the signage and segregation between subway, Buchanan St and Park and Ride passengers.
The Park and Ride buses departed from Kintra St and Iona St. There was a separate bus stop for each Park and Ride destination. Each bus stop had space for at least 2 buses and in some instances 3 buses. This allowed the bus stop queue person to load 2 or 3 buses at once well done for fast moving the queue. Each driver counted the passengers on and stopped short of the capacity and the bus stop queue person went to the back of the upper deck, did an empty seat count and the empty seats were filled. No standing passengers permitted.
Our queue had about 100 passengers in it when we joined the queue. Other Park and Ride queues varied between 0 and 250. There were 2 Stagecoach normal painted E400 buses loading which left full and then we had a wait. There were various spare buses parked on the opposite side of the roads for all the Park and Ride bus stops. There was a delay in buses arriving caused by a build up of Buchanan St shuttle buses in the bus station entrance waiting for a place at their bus stop or bus queuing area thus being stopped and preventing any Park and Ride buses further back in the entrance queue from making forward progress. At this time there were 4 Buchanan St shuttle buses loading at their bus stop with at least 12 waiting for these 4 to fill and leave. In less than 5 minutes a red 04 reg ALX Trident (from Leytonstone - depot code T)) was brought over from the opposite side of the road and put into use as an extra for Braehead to help move the queue. 10 minutes after joining the queue, our bus was on its way.
As our bus made its way round the bus station there was movement in the Buchanan St shuttle buses and buses stuck in the entrance were able to move. On our return towards the M8, return there was a continuous queue of inbound buses along Summertown Rd and Broomloan Rd almost back to Govan subway station say about 40 buses. And then to Braehead without undue delay.
The Buchanan St shuttle buses loaded in Clynder St. On the Sunday I saw 10 or may be 12 parked along Clynder St all loading at the same time. This shuttle bus queue had a main queue spine down the centre of the grassed area with 10 or 12 separate lead offs directly to each bus front door with the buses being nose to tail. Briton St, within the bus station was used a holding area for the next group of 10 or 12 Buchanan St shuttle buses so as soon as those at the bus stop departed en masse, the next group were able to move forward en masse.
Sunday am. We arrived early (08.30) at Braehead shopping centre, had breakfast in the Sainsburys café, filled the car up with petrol, then parked the car at the allotted time of 09.15 and walked over to the Park and Ride queue. So you see what I mean about facilities oh and decent toilets inside the Sainsburys. However, today a much longer queue, about 300-400 persons. One shuttle bus left. A couple of minutes later a second shuttle bus appeared, loaded and went on its way. We did move forward in the queue but still about 200-300 persons in the queue. Then no buses for at least 20 minutes. Then 3 First buses appeared and arrived the in the SPT bus station and parked in 3 bays alongside the Park and Ride queue it turned out these were extra buses and obviously the drivers had not been to this Park and Ride bus stop before and so just went into the bus station and parked near the long queue. Then within 2 minutes 2 Stagecoach E400s correctly approached the Park and Ride bus stops.
The queue controller started loading one of the Stagecoach E400 but not the second one right behind it or the 3 First buses in the SPT bus station. So after a discussion with him, he rearranged the barriers at the Park and Ride bus stop and started loading the second Stagecoach E400 but could not load the 3 First buses as they were in the SPT bus station and shuttle buses were not allowed to use the SPT bus station bays as the bays were reserved for service buses. Now I can understand this on Monday to Saturday with many service buses coming and going and it could cause problems, but this was Sunday morning, very few services buses and a long queue of passengers who had been waiting longer than expected. Now these Games are in Glasgow and SPT is Glasgow so I really do not think SPT would look good, from a customer service viewpoint, if that line was continually pursued. However, now that 2 buses were loading at once, very soon 3 buses were filled, we got on the 4th bus (a Stagecoach ADL E400 in Unibus livery from Leamington Spa) and we were on our way. One of the First buses that had been loaded at the Park and Ride bus stop did park nearby for a few minutes fully loaded and then followed a Stagecoach E400 out so clearly the First driver was less familiar with the location and waited for a bus to follow.
The trip to Ibrox was fine with no delays. Then through security which took much longer. We arrived at our set nearly 1 hour later for the same Park and Ride time slot. At the end of the first session, it was announced that there were lots of delays and problems with shuttle buses and people might wish to use the subway back to central Glasgow.
From the BBC:
- Glasgow 2014: Games organisers promise more buses after venue delays - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-28513536
- Glasgow 2014: Refunds after Games travel problems - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-28542350
So what happened? My theory. The shuttle buses worked ok for 2 x 45,000 spectator sessions at Ibrox on Saturday s that should have been ok for Sunday. But on Sunday there was also a Park and Ride and Buchanan St shuttle buses for a 51,000+ spectator session at Hampden Park where the start was in the middle of the first Ibrox session and the end was in the middle of the second Ibrox session. So in theory it would appear all the shuttle buses could do the extra session but probably all the contingency and recovery capability was lost. And then add in the probably the killer move a marathon that start at 09.00 in the city, goes all round the city, out south west to Ibrox M8 J23 (but not crucially M8 J24 which is 600 yards further out on the M8) then a loop round the south central area passing west of Hampden Park. So the route goes near to the Buchanan St bus station and the two venues being served by shuttles passes. Add in 350,000+ spectators along the route and the consequential knock-on effects.
See here for the route - http://www.glasgow2014.com/sites/default/files/documents/Marathon Map - 6Feb14 v3.pdf
We stayed at Ibrox between the sessions thus not using the shuttle buses.
The Gold, Silver and Bronze matches were scheduled at the very end of the 2nd session, so it was still a very much full house, say 95% full, at the end of the last match, South Africa beating New Zealand to take Gold. We left immediately not waiting for the medal ceremony and so did lots of other spectator so the street heading towards the subway and shuttle buses were full of spectators.
Thus we arrived in the Ibrox bus station at our Park and Ride bus stop quite soon and there were about 100 in the queue already and one bus loading. When it was nearly full a second bus appeared but did not load until the first had departed (about a 30 second) wait and as soon as it started loading a further 2 buses arrived and parked nose to tail so the bus queue person loaded all 3 buses at once. We boarded the first bus which was a brand new Scania E400 with no fleet number and no Stagecoach logo, When our bus left the other 2 buses were still loading and there were at least 200 people in the queue. The bus exited the bus station reasonably quickly as the teething conflicting bus movements had been resolved. There was a huge queue from the Buchanan Street shuttle bus stop stretching 10-15 persons wide all the way back. But I lost count of how many buses were nose to tail loading, probably 10-12 (as earlier) and around 6 already queue waiting for the bus stop to be freed. As the bus travelled along Summertown Road and the Broomloan Rd we passed about 15 in-bound buses, 2-4 Braehead Park and Ride, about 4-6 other Park and Ride and about 6 Buchanan St shuttle buses nowhere near as many as Saturday night. Whilst turning left at Govan subway station, there was a long line of buses looking east on Govan Rd which must have been used as a parking lot.
Other buses seen at Ibrox - Reading buses
On the Saturday during a break between the sessions, we took a walk round the south side of Ibrox stadium and then to the nearby ASDA and McDonalds. Along the way there were accessible shuttles at Ibrox accessible bus stop on Shieldhall Rd/Edmiston Drive:
- First livery brand new Streetlites
- 62 reg or newer single deckers, Wright bodied(?)
The single deckers on the accessible shuttle to Partick did not appear to have the seating altered to provide more wheelchair space but I could have been wrong.
And there was a bus parking lot on the south side on what was normally a car park for Ibrox stadium. A few First E400s were parked here. Probably space for 60-100 buses.
Other buses seen on the M74:
- First Wright bodied double deckers
- First E400 double deckers
- Ulsterbus Wright bodied double deckers
Video of buses parked up for Glasgow Commonwealth Games at Hampden Park
- Video: how many buses does it take to get Games fans home from Hampden? - http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/commo...o-get-games-fans-home-from-hampden.1406622022. All parked up on Aitkenhead Rd near Hampden Park.
And also https://www.flickr.com/photos/retroscania/14605836499
Flickr lots of photos on flickr.